


More Than a Stand-In, But Still Not Quite the Real Thing

by orphan_account



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-19
Updated: 2013-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-29 20:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/691100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They both know it's temporary, but it's still enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	More Than a Stand-In, But Still Not Quite the Real Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Set after "Raw" (when Elliot gave Kathy the divorce papers) but before "Dependent" (when Kathy and Elliot reconciled). For the Benson/Cabot shippers out there (and I am totally with you on that), that placement puts this after Cabot's first return ("Ghost") but while she was still under before she officially returned to the DA's office.
> 
> Remember when Olivia ended up driving Kathy to the doctor's office and Kathy went into labor and stuff? I always thought those two probably had a pretty good friendship going, what with being the major women in Elliot's life. Maybe, at one time, it went a little beyond friendship.

Neither one of them wants to think of the other as some kind of substitute or placeholder for Elliot (or anyone else), but the thought is kind of inescapable. Olivia’s staying over, sitting with Kathy on her big comfy couch, drinking a bottle of Valpolicella she brought over to what used to be Stabler’s house and is still the Stabler house…just not Elliot Stabler’s house.

It’s the kind of thought that has her reaching for her glass. 

“When I was in college,” she tells Kathy, “my roommate unearthed this really weird book. _Barbara Cartland’s Etiquette for Love and Romance._ ”

“You’re pulling my leg,” Kathy giggles into her glass. Olivia smiles. It’s cute how Kathy automatically censors herself. Most of the people Olivia knows would’ve been a lot more earthy.

“It had a hot pink cover,” Olivia says solemnly, which makes Kathy giggle even more. “And it was mostly written in this fake question-and-answer format. One of the questions was,” Olivia closes her eyes, trying to see the book in her mind. “Is it all right to break a date with a woman to accept a date with a man.”

Kathy reaches for the bottle. “I’m assuming that by ‘date with a woman,’ ol’ Babs meant a friendship going-to-the-movies-date?”

“Oh, yeah,” says Olivia.

Kathy sets the bottle down again, her glass filled to her satisfaction, which is only about a third up. “Furthermore, and I know I’m going out on a limb here, I’m guessing ol’ Babs said that was A-OK behavior.”

“Oh, yeah,” Olivia repeats. “I don’t remember the exact wording for the whole response, but I’ll never forget ‘It is far more important for you as a woman to go out with a man, and women are merely ‘drop-ins’ for when you have not got a better invitation, which of course is a masculine one’.”

Kathy raises her eyebrow at Olivia. Olivia shrugs. “Not my _general_ philosophy of life, but there are times….”

“You offering to be my ‘drop-in’ until Elliot makes his inherently better masculine move?”

Olivia looks at Kathy. She’s always liked her: she’s a good friend. Until she and Elliot split, Kathy was as off limits as Elliot himself. El’s still off-limits, of course, not just because he’s her partner and friend but because Olivia’s pretty sure Kathy and Elliot are really only on a vacation from each other. Divorce papers notwithstanding.

“He will, you know,” Olivia says quietly.

Kathy sighs. “It won’t surprise me when he does,” she tells Olivia. “Will it…hurt you?”

Olivia shakes her head. “Nah,” she says easily. “I’ll be relieved, frankly, when he realizes he can’t do any better than you.” Olivia sips her wine. “And I’m not saying that ‘cause I have self-esteem problems,” she adds with a little grin.

Kathy deliberately sets her glass down, moves closer to Olivia. “You shouldn’t. Have self-esteem problems,” Kathy says, then leans forward to kiss Olivia.

Olivia’s not surprised but she is pleased. She kisses back, tastes the wine on both their breaths. She backs off, not too quickly, but enough that she can check the level on the bottle. They haven’t even killed half of it, so no one’s acting on alcohol alone.

“I care about you both,” Olivia tells Kathy. Kathy just kisses her again. Olivia wants to tell Kathy so much more: that she cares about the Stablers as a couple, as a family, as individuals. That maybe she’s Kathy’s stand-in, and maybe Kathy is kind of a stand-in to Olivia, too, but right here and now, that doesn’t matter.

“We better go to the bedroom,” Kathy says, her voice slightly husky. “One more traumatic life experience and Kathleen will go right over the edge.”

Kathy stands up, extending her hand to Olivia, who takes it, letting Kathy gently draw her to her feet, gently lead her to her bedroom. Olivia wonders briefly how many times Elliot’s done the same thing with Kathy, then puts the thought aside for later.

Because for now, a stand-in is just as good as the real thing.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Barbara Cartland's Etiquette for Love and Romance_ is a real book that exists in the world, published under Pocket Books' "Wallaby Book" imprint in 1984. It's loaded with swell advice (posed in fake Q &A fashion) like "Q: Should you allow the man to order for you? A:If he...really understands food...it is always a very good thing to say, 'I do hope you will order for me as I am sure you know far more about the food here than I do'. It will flatter him, and you will usually get a better dinner than if you had chose it for yourself." (p. 35). The bit that stuck out in Olivia's mind is on page 12.  
> Somehow, Ms. Cartland refrained from writing "My step-granddaughter just became the Princess of Wales so suck it, haters" every other page. Yet it still is implicit in the text.


End file.
